Trump prevails over Evanston woman, 87, in condo case

Dispute over condo became theatrical slugfest; lawyers get last digs in during closing arguments

May 23, 2013|By Annie Sweeney, Chicago Tribune reporter

Jacqueline Goldberg, 87, and her attorney Shelly B. Kulwin, left, talk to media as they leave Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago after the jury delivered a verdict in her case against Donald Trump. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

A victorious Donald Trump said his lawyers prevailed at a trial in Chicago over a disputed condo sale at his high-rise luxury hotel because the other side didn’t have any evidence.

“I’m rich and I’m from New York – that’s all they had,” Trump today said in a phone interview after the verdict.

Trump had testified last week at the trial and later accused his 87-year-old legal foe of playing “the age card.”

Jacqueline Goldberg, the elderly Evanston woman who said Trump had wronged her, addressed reporters in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse with a warm smile. She did not express any regrets.

“I had to do it,” she said. “I had to try.”

She also said she felt good about “exposing” Trump and offered this advice for anyone going into business with him: “Read the contract.”

Trump’s attorney, Stephan Novack, said Goldberg’s lawyer tried to turn the court fight into a New York versus Chicago battle involving the world’s most famous businessman.

“We were all confident, but nobody ever knows for sure how a jury is going to decide it,” he said. “There’s no doubt justice was done. It was done in the best possible way. We had eight jurors – all of whom are Chicagoans – none of whom bought into this ‘Let’s hate N.Y.’ And that’s how justice is done.”

Goldberg had claimed the real estate mogul pulled a fast one by yanking financial incentives after she had plunked down a $500,000 deposit on two condos at Trump International Hotel and Tower.

During closing arguments Wednesday in U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve’s courtroom, Goldberg’s lawyers asked the jury for $6 million in damages.

The six-woman, two-man jury deliberated for 90 minutes Wednesday and a few additional hours Thursday before reaching its verdict and denying any damages.

Goldberg’s attorney, Shelly Kulwin, dropped his head in disappointment as the verdict was announced.